Wire fence



(No Model.)

V. P. MOUNT 82: H. L. 000K.

WIRE FENCE. No. 537,900. Patented Apr. 23,1895.

VOORHEES FRANK MOUNT AND HARRIS L. COOK, OF HOMER, MICHIGAN.

WIRE FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 537,900, dated April 23, 1895.

Application filed April 30. 1894. Serial No. 509,458. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, VOORHEES FRANK MOUNT and HARRIS L. 000K, citizens of the United States, residing at Homer, county of Calhoun, State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Wire Fences; and we declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the in vention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

Our invention has for its object certain new and useful improvements in wire fences, and it consists of the construction, combination and arrangement of devices and appliances hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a fence illustrating our invention. Fig. 2 is a detail View showing the manner in which the wire is tightened. Fig. 3 is a detail view of one of the jointed stays or pickets.

We carry out our invention as follows:

A represents fence posts of any suitable construction with which the horizontal fence wires B are connected in any proper manner.

One purpose of our invention relates to a provision for securing a center tension of the Wires to take up the slack at any desired point intermediate the ends of the horizontal wires. Our improved center tension device consists of two short pieces of chain, indicated in the drawings at C and 0, consisting, preferably, of links of uniform size having a fixed engagement with the adjacent ends of the wires, one of the chains being provided with a hook O constructed to engage the opposite chain at any desired link. These chains may belocated at any convenient place in the fence, and by drawing the two parts of an individual fence wire together, engaged with the said chains respectively, the slack may be taken up to any desired tension and the two chains be hooked together accordingly. A-very great advantage is thus provided for in locating the means for securing the tension intermediate the extremities of a fence wire, inasmuch as our center tension mechanism allows the fence to be opened in the center and thus to serve as a gate allowing passage of animals, wagons, harvesters and other farm machinery, 850.

The means of taking up the slack herein described and shown, are economical, durable, easily adjusted, while also they effect a saving of time and expense heretofore required in fitting complicated appliances to end posts for securing the proper tension of the wire and taking up the slack. We thus have a handy and convenient fence, while we also secure provision for readily making a passage way therethrough from one field to another as is frequently desirable, thereby saving expense of building gates, especially the expense of building gates wide enough for the passage of binders.

To tighten up the fence wires and to take up the slack to the desired degree of tension, we provide, as shown in Fig. 2, a cant hook D of suitable construction provided with a rigid arm D and a swinging hook D By engaging the rigid'arm D with one of the chains, the swinging hook may be engaged with the other chain, and by this means the two wires may be drawn tight and the two chains be hooked together at a desired point. Thus the operation of tightening the wires may be accomplished with simplicity, ease and rapidity, while also the device is durable. We call this a means for securing a center tension and desire to cover broadly, the means of securing a center or intermediate tension between the extremities of the horizontal Wires.

Another feature of our invention consists. in the provision of jointed pickets or stays for connecting the horizontal wires vertically. Accordingly, E denotes our improved jointed stays or pickets which we construct of several pieces of wire bent and twisted together in such a manner as to form jointed sections E, the several adjacent sections E being jointed together, one of the adjacent sections being provided with a loop e at the place of at 'tachment with the adjacent section. The horizontal wires of the fence are run through the loops of the various sections E connecting the top and bottom wires, which are duly fastened to the several stays or pickets, preferably by twisting the extremities of the upper and lower sections to the top and bottom wires respeotively in such a manner as to effectually prevent the stays from being slipped in either direction. It will be perceived that by this construction the stays have a certain amount of flexibility laterally which will allow the fence at all times to maintain its original height and position. It is well understood that in the construction and use of other stays heretofore common, as forinstance, a stay constructed of a single rigid piece of wire, the stay if it becomes bent will remain in its bent condition instead of springing back into its normal condition, the bend of the rigid wire stay drawing the horizontal wires together and holding the upper wires down, making the fence lower and unsightly. In the employment of our jointed stays or pickets, however, they are not liable to be bent so easily, as they possess flexibility, and consequently we avoid the objection above mentioned in the use of stays made of a rigid integral piece of wire. Where wooden stays or pickets have heretofore been used in connection with the horizontal wires, there has been great liability of their being broken, which frequently happens, in which case a whole new stay is required and some considerable time to replace it. This we entirely overcome byour invention, as our flexible jointed stays are not liable to be broken or bent.

What we claim as our invention is 1. A wire fence having horizontal fence wires divided between their extremities and provided with center tension devices consisting of chains having a fixed engagement on the adjacent ends of said wires, and a hook fixedly engaged with one of said chains to engage the links of the chain on the end of the adjacent wire, substantially as set forth.

2. A wire fence having in combination a series of posts, and a series of horizontal wires engaged therewith, each of said wires divided between its extremities, a chain composed of links uniform in size in fixed engagement with each of the inner ends of said wires, and a hook at the end of one chain of each pair, to engage with a link of the adjacent chain, substantially as set forth.

3. A wire fence provided with a series of horizontal Wires having in combination therewith vertical flexible stays E consisting of sections of wire E, each section formed of a separate piece of wire bent and twisted together forming loops or eyes at the adjacent ends of each of the various sections,.the eyes at the ends of adjacent sections looped one into the other to form a jointed union of the sections at their adjacent ends, each of the intermediate horizontal wires passing loosely through a loop of one of the sections, the upper and lower extremities of the end sections of the stay rigidly engaged with the top and bottom wires, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof we sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

VOORHEES FRANK MOUNT. HARRIS L. COOK. Witnesses:

J. H. HEOKATHORN, F. N. ROBINSON. 

